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from the hollywood reporter Busy pre-upfront weekend Pickups, renewals at Fox; other nets poised to move By Nellie Andreeva It was a busy pre-upfront weekend for the broadcast networks. Following a 13-episode order to comedy The Inn on Friday, Fox on Saturday picked up animated comedy Sit Down, Shut Up. Additionally, the network quietly ordered J.J. Abrams' sci-fi drama Fringe on Friday. Also on Friday, Fox handed out a cast-contingent pilot order to Shaun Cassidy's drama Inseparable for midseason. The ABC Studios-produced project originally cast Toby Stephens during the strike in anticipation of a pilot pickup contingent on a _script_. By the time the network picked up the pilot on Friday, the studio's hold on Stephens had expired, so the pilot is cast-contingent. There is no word yet on the Bernie Mac starrer Starting Under. The project, created by Bruce Helford, had a series commitment but now looks doubtful for a straight pickup. There is a chance that the multicamera comedy may get retooled. On the renewal front, Fox picked up sitcom 'Til Death, while it opted not to bring back comedy Back to You for a second season. At ABC, the drama surrounding the two David E. Kelley projects, pilot Life on Mars and veteran Boston Legal, continues. Both are close to a pickup but facing hurdles with showrunner transition for Mars and budgetary and scheduling issues for Boston. Meanwhile, modestly rated freshman drama Eli Stone looks poised to return for a second season, with freshman comedy Miss/Guided also in the mix. Another freshman drama, Women's Murder Club, is not expected to come back. Upon closing the deal for Mars, the drama is expected to be the only _script_ed new addition to ABC's schedule, along with Scrubs. The network also recently picked up the Ashton Kutcher-produced reality series Opportunity Knocks. Over at CBS, dramas Eleventh Hour and The Mentalist remain the frontrunners, with Mythological Ex also going strong, while a couple of wild cards, Ny-Lon and Can Openers, have entered the mix. The un_title_d Ed Yeager project starring Jay Mohr continues to be solid on the comedy side, along with Worst Week. The Unit looks good to return, Shark doesn't. Fox's The Inn, from 20th Century Fox TV, Reveille and Principato-Young, is described as Upstairs/ Downstairs set at a hip New York hotel. Jason Bateman has received high marks for his pilot directorial debut with the project, whose cast includes Niecy Nash, Jerry O'Connell, Molly Stanton, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Jolene Purdy and Brando Eaton. Abraham Higginbotham penned the project, which he is exec produced with Peter Principato, Paul Young, Brian Dobbins, Carolyn Bernstein and Howard Owens. Sit Down, from Sony TV, Tantamount and Granada USA, is an animated comedy _base_d on a live-action Australian series that chronicles the lives of seven staff members at a high school in a small northeastern fishing town who are preoccupied with their own needs and agendas, which means the students always come second. With the series, Arrested Development creator Mitch Hurwitz is returning to Fox primetime. He penned Sit Down and is exec producing with Eric Tannenbaum, Kim Tannenbaum, Bill Oakley and Josh Weinstein. The voice cast of the series includes three Development alums, Bateman, Will Arnett and Henry Winkler, as well as Cheri Oteri, Will Forte, Nick Kroll, Tom Kenny and Maria Bamford. Sit Down, as well as another animated project, The Pitts, took a nontraditional development route when Fox ordered them as table reads in lieu of presentations to speed up the process. A week ago, the network gave both projects money to hire a handful of writers
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